Newcomer
by Fivybilt
Summary: "Father forgive me, for I have sinned. I have made my OC the number-one ranked level five..." It's a few years into the future, and there's been some reshuffling of the rankings with the addition of four new level fives. How will this impact everyone's life? The answer, it turns out, is "some," especially if they are also level five, but not actually very much otherwise.
1. Prologue

The new Number 2 stared at the letter in something approaching horror. He knew things hadn't been going too well for a few years now, but he had never dreamed he would be… _demoted_ like this. Yes, he was weaker now, but he should still have been stronger than anyone else. It didn't make sense. He crumpled up the letter and threw it in the garbage. He missed.

This… THIS was probably why he had been demoted. It didn't matter that he wasn't as strong as before. It was the fact that he could only use his powers for a few minutes at a time. That was it. Probably. Or maybe it was that the rankings were based on research potential and not strength, like someone had once mentioned to him. That didn't really help much; what kind of ability had better research potential than his?

He flipped through the rest of his mail, coming across a letter with "HELLO ACCELERATOR!" written on it in big friendly handwriting. Of all that had happened today, this was probably the most unexpected. Who would send him a letter like this? Opening it up, all of his confusion just turned back into rage.

"Hi! My name is Takeru Yamamoto and I'm the new #1 ranked level 5! Hopefully we can be friends! Maybe see you soon!"

Oh god, if Accelerator ever got his hands on this guy, he was dead. The double exclamation point was what had sealed it. He hadn't realized it was possible to hate someone you had never met or interacted with this much, but this letter was _mocking_ him, and that would not stand.

That would not stand.

Mikoto Misaka turned over the letter in her hands. She had known it was coming; Academy City had recently promoted four more espers to Level 5, and as a result had had to rework the rankings. Still, she couldn't help but worry. What if she had dropped down? If Shokuhou was ranked above her, she wouldn't be able to stand it. She just couldn't.

Bracing herself, she opened the letter. She was ranked fourth now. Not so bad, she told herself, but it still stung a little. She'd probably find out who had bumped her down soon enough; people loved to gossip about the Level Fives.

The new Number 1 had hung the letter on his wall so that it would be the first thing he saw every morning. He had wanted to write home about it, but the man who had delivered it had said he should try to be as inconspicuous as possible. He couldn't help but giggle a little; inconspicuous was no problem for him. And he was fairly certain that man hadn't seen him since. And neither had the other man, the one with the offer.

That Accelerator guy was pretty scary, though. He really, really didn't want to get into a fight with him. Takeru doubted he could get through that always-on reflection field of his if it came to that. Or rather, it depended on _exactly_ how it worked…

Still, if it came to that, he could definitely get away. Definitely. Probably. Almost certainly.

He fell asleep looking at the letter on his wall.


	2. Chapter 1

Well, wasn't this just typical. Another night out, another group of worthless good-for-nothings surrounding her in the street, and not a soul trying to help her. This was usually the point where that idiot would pop out and do his little routine. She never understood why he tried to protect these morons.

As she was gearing up to zap the lot of them, a boy burst through the crows. "Ah, there you are! I was really worried!" He smiled the same smile that idiot always did, grabbed her arm, and yanked her out into the street.

He was somewhat short, with short dark hair and glasses, and was clearly terrified out of his wits. "Do you think that worked? I hope it worked."

"Why did you do that?"

"Er, you looked like you were in trouble, so I tried to help!"

"I wasn't in trouble. I can handle myself perfectly well."

"…Sorry."

He looked completely defeated. She almost took pity on him. She was about to say something when a noise from behind told her that the gang of morons hadn't been quite so easily defeated. She sighed and rolled her eyes, and started building up some charge for one good jolt.

Before she had a chance to discharge, the boy was running straight at the gang, screaming something completely incoherent. That was… unexpected. He stopped about five feet away from the brawniest one (who seemed most likely to be their leader), and asked in the most depressingly earnest voice she had ever heard, "Why can't you leave her alone?"

The response was a rather eloquent right hook straight to the head. The less expected retort was the boy simply jumping a few feet to the left, now outside of the arc of the punch. He elbowed the idiot in the back, which didn't seem to have too much force behind it but he was off-balance enough that it knocked him down.

Their leader having been knocked over like that was clearly a violent blow to the thugs' world view. Mikoto could almost see the gears winding around in their head before they finally collectively seemed to decide that they would rather go eat dinner, and walked away in a pack. Their leader got up a few seconds later and ran after them.

She turned to the boy. "That was pretty interesting. What was that, teleportation?"

He smiled. "Actually, it wasn't. It's called Perfect Dodge. Basically, I just get out of the way of any attacks."

She looked at him quizzically. "So, it's teleportation triggered by an attack?"

"It's not teleportation. It works totally differently. But yeah, that's basically the idea."

"That's a pretty weird ability you've got there, Mr. -?"

"Taro Tanaka."

"You'll forgive me if I think you're a dirty friggin' liar."

He laughed a little. "It's actually my name. I get that a lot."

"Uh huh. Sure."

Despite his air of cheery affability, there was definitely something not-quite-right about this guy. The clearly fake name, the excessive jolliness, and that ability was a bit too weird, even for this city. Still, he didn't seem _dangerous_, just a bit off.

She was about to apologize and leave when a loud "ONEEEEEEE SAMA" hit her from behind like a truck. Kuroko's continued presence as her roommate well into high school was suspicious to say the least, but not altogether something Mikoto minded. Kuroko's sudden presence on her back, however, was somewhat less comfortable.

After their traditional greeting (ending, as usual, with Kuroko nursing her newest head injury), Mikoto finally remembered the man who was right next to her. His mouth was wide open in a look of complete shock.

"Was that teleportation? I've never seen it before…"

Kuroko smiled. "Why yes it is! I happen to be a level 4 teleporter, thank you very much. May I ask who you are?"

"Taro Tanaka-" Mikoto stifled a laugh- "Level 3, Perfect Dodge."

"Perfect Dodge?" Kuroko tilted her head. "Never heard of that one before."

"Taro" smiled. "Try to hit me!"

Mikoto gave a half-hearted slap in his direction. Where her hand should have contacted his shoulder, suddenly he was three feet further back.

Kuroko shrugged. "So you're a teleporter too? I'm impressed, level 3 usually isn't enough to teleport yourself that well…"

He frowned. "I'm not a teleporter! It's different!"

"Oh? How exactly?"

He paused and stared straight forward for a few seconds.

"It just is, okay? Completely different."

"Uh huh."

Mikoto couldn't help but interject. She was… skeptical to say the least. Kuroko seemed to just be enjoying herself. As adamant as he was about it not being teleportation, he was the first other teleporter she had met to not immediately try and kill her or those around her. So overall, a net positive. Still, that ability of his… something was off about it. And she was going to find out what. Tomorrow. Or maybe later.

Lost in thought, she was startled when Kuroko asked her to take a quick photo of her and her new friend. Mikoto stammered some generic agreement, grabbed Kuroko's phone, and took the picture. "Taro" wasn't in the image when it came up. Huh. She apologized and tried again, this time watching the two of them instead of the screen. Right as she took the photo, he skipped a few feet to the left, just out of frame, and was back in place in less than half a second.

"So this 'Perfect Dodge' of yours works on pictures too?" asked Mikoto trying hard to hide whatever negative feelings she had in her voice.

It hadn't worked as well as she hoped: "Uh, yeah. I guess? Sorry…"

He looked like a wounded puppy. She almost felt bad, but she had more important things to do. She grabbed Kuroko's upper arm and dragged her away. Kuroko kept yelling plans to meet up and do lunch and go sightseeing or something, but Mikoto was no longer paying attention. She did notice his face darken when Kuroko mentioned offering to show him all the spots only a teleporter could reach. Maybe he wasn't a teleporter after all. Well, she doubted she'd run into him again anytime soon. Hopefully.


	3. Chapter 2

The new Number 5 was lurking in the shadows. He did that a lot. It was very easy for him. Still, this was lurking with a purpose. That Railgun girl was going to pass by here. And he was going to… he wasn't sure yet. Fight her, definitely. Kill her maybe, if it came to that. He just needed one thing: to prove he was stronger. He didn't care how the rankings were determined, but he knew, just _knew_ that if he managed to beat Railgun, he would move up to Number 4. For now, he just had to be patient.

He waited. Sounds began to come from down the street. He quietly unfolded himself from his trash can and squeezed himself up into a window. The window was completely opaque, of course, but he figured that this late at night nobody would be able to actually tell. The person walking down the alley came into view. Shit. It wasn't Railgun; it was that psychopath. He had spent three long years in middle school with Takeru Yamamoto, and any and all interactions with him were to be avoided at all costs.

In his usual infuriating style, Takeru was loudly singing as he walked. He _would_ be a prime target for attack like that, but experience had shown that the man was never, ever off-guard.

"Walking down the streeeeet, tap-tap-tapping my feeeeet, got some friends to meeeeet, because I know that's you goo-brain."

_Shit._

Number 5 lowered himself to the ground and uncurled back to his full size. "How did you know?"

"I saw you move, idiot. There were two trashcans here before." Takeru sighed. "I expected better from you, Yoshida."

"That's not my name. It's not even close. I'm Mizuno Kuroyama, rememb-"

"Whatever, goo-brain." God he hated that nickname.

"Why are you here?"

"Because I caught you creepin'." He smiled that stupid smile of his, the one that looked almost innocent and childlike. Mizuno knew better.

"On who, may I ask?"

"Oh whom. And I'm not sure. You know, that Misaka girl was walking up this way earlier. And then she just changed her mind and went home a different way. Isn't that odd?"

Mizuno was sweating. He extended his brow a little so none of it could drip into his eyes. "Very odd."

"You know, I've noticed that she's ranked right above you. As a level 5, I mean. Obvious she's way above you in most other respects."

Mizuno couldn't take it anymore. He doubled his arm length and went for a good solid punch. His arm met a trashcan lid in mid-air, which was traveling at about 80 mph in the opposite direction. _Dang_ that hurt. Fortunately his more… flexible body structure had absorbed the blow and prevented any real long-term damage. Still, that welt wouldn't go away easily.

"I'm asking you not to challenge her. It doesn't work that way."

Mizuno couldn't believe this asshole, getting off on power like this. Who did he think he was? Well, the answer was the most powerful esper in a city full of powerful espers, he supposed. Still, the principle of the thing.

"I refuse."

"I see. Well, she'll beat you easily in a fair fight, I think. None of this sneaking around stuff."

"So you're saying you won't stop me if I try to fight her?"

"Not if you do it in broad daylight and from the front instead of this creepy sneak attack."

"Who put you in charge of when and where people can fight?"

"I did." He grinned again. "Not like I have anything better to do, anyway."

Takeru walked off with that obnoxious grin still on his face. One day Mizuno was going to punch a hole straight through that stupid head of his. But not yet. He could wait.


	4. Chapter 3

Mikoto stared in confusion at what she had just witnessed. The door and doorframe on the building she was passing had separated from the wall as she walked by and inflated itself into the shape of a person. The colors were still changing, but it was pretty clear by the stance that this former door was now challenging her to a fight. That was… unusual.

"Who are you?"

The door-man answered back in a voice that sounded like sawdust and creaky stairs. "Mizuno Kuroyama. Number 5 ranked Level 5."

He had finally stopped changing. He was a tall, lanky, man with somewhat long dark brown hair. "I challenge you to a fight for your rank."

"I'm not sure it works that way."

"I don't care."

She shrugged. She sent a quick zap his way to see what would happen. What happened was his entire body curved unnaturally out of the way. Another zap to the other side, and he was arched in the opposite direction. She aimed a shot at his head, and suddenly it was U-shaped, around where her bolt should have gone through.

"So, some kind of shape-shifter?"

"It's called Protean, but yes. Basically."

Well, this wouldn't be too hard. She pulled a washer out of her pocket and took aim. He just stood there, looking at her hand quizzically. Not the brightest, then. She let fly with about 50% power. The washer hit him dead center. Or it would have, if a hole hadn't suddenly opened up right in the middle of his chest to let it through. Okay then. That was… not unexpected, but definitely at least a little gross.

"Is that all you've got?" He looked a bit too proud of himself for her.

"How old are you? You look like you're fresh out of middle school."

He stared blankly at her. "I am."

"Oh."

They both just stared awkwardly for a few seconds.

"So, what that all you've got? I was kind of hoping for more."

"Out of curiosity, when you were pretending to be a door, were you actually made of wood, or did it just look it?"

"Actually wood."

Okay, that made this slightly harder. She had hoped she could just zap the entire area.

"You know, you don't seem like your heart's fully into this."

"It was a few days ago, but now I'm kind of wondering what the point is."

"Oh?"

"I asked around about how the rankings work. It doesn't work like I thought."

"So why bother?"

"I wanted to prove I was stronger, I guess."

He shrugged.

Mikoto laughed awkwardly for a second, and then turned around to leave. Suddenly she was flying.

"I didn't say I gave up! I need to show I'm stronger!"

She extricated herself from the garbage pile she had landed in. "Why?"

"Because I told that psychopath I would."

"Which psychopath?"

"Takeru Yamamoto."

That name sounded vaguely familiar. "Who is that?"

"The new Number 1."

…There was a new Number 1? Man, she was glad she hadn't been around when Accelerator got THAT news. "So, why are you going through with it?"

"He thought I wouldn't. I hate that guy so much, I can't stand him being right about anything. You understand, right?"

She sort of did, she supposed. "So you're going to fight me, to prove you're stronger to someone you hate, who is stronger than both of us?"

"Yeah, I guess so." He smiled. "You know, he told me I should challenge you from the front, but he never said anything about the fight itself."

Suddenly she was reeling again. Somehow he had hit her from behind. He hadn't moved from his spot at all, though. The ground itself reared up to attack her, and knocked her sideways almost 20 feet.

He walked towards her, smiling. She watched his feet. Something was… off about how he was walking. Every time he took a step, his shoe seemed to be stuck to the ground for a split second before separating. Huh. She felt a rumble from below and the street buckled up again, knocking her onto the pavement. The pavement popped a sidewalk brick up into the back of her head, and she fell back onto the street. He was still walking towards her.

Suddenly, she realized her position. She wasn't on the street at all. This, this _thing_ she was fighting wasn't just taking the form of a man. It was also the street underneath her, the sidewalk behind her, maybe even the buildings. This did not bode well.

He walked right up to her, and picked her up by the neck. "Don't even try to zap me. There's a metal rod running straight through my arms and down to the ground." He smiled again, like a friendly school teacher. It was really, really unnerving.

She put all of her effort into smiling, and managed to choke out "You're an idiot" before she ran out of breath. His face turned dark instantly.

"Don't call me that. _He_ calls me that. And it's not true. I'm not stupid! I'm powerful! I should be unstoppable! I can be anything I want, and I-"

He didn't get to finish. She sent as much electricity as she could straight down into the ground below her. It didn't matter about his stupid self-grounding idea if he had forgotten to ground the part of himself that was pretending to be the ground. Idiot.

He was knocked out almost instantly. A layer of the ground and sidewalk, as well as the faces of two buildings and a window all seemed to slide their way towards his unconscious body, before merging back into it. The layer of _him_ had been almost paper-thin, which explained how she hadn't noticed. Still, she clearly needed to be a bit more on-guard in the future.

She walked away and went to lunch. Kuroko had invited her, Kazari, Ruiko, and that Taro guy to a nice restaurant. She still didn't like him, but the others found him pleasant company. She was still keeping an eye out, though. Always keeping an eye out.

Mizuno woke up over an hour later. Takeru was crouching right above him, smiling directly into his face from less than a foot away.

"Get out of my face."

"Never." Takeru grinned again (damn him!) and took a step back. "I warned you, you know."

"I just need to watch myself more. Better grounding. Or maybe be all insulator?"

"Don't bother. I gave you one shot. No more."

"Why, exactly, are you trying to manage my life?"

"I'm not."

"That is blatantly false."

Takeru shrugged. "I'm not a fan of fighting, you know. It's boring. I'd rather read or something."

"Then why don't you go do that and leave the rest of us alone." It wasn't a question.

"Nah." _Man_ Mizuno hated this guy.

"Give me one reason. One good reason why you want me to not fight her."

"Not just her."

"Fine. One good reason why you don't want me to fight at all."

He shrugged. "World peace?"

This asshole. "And have you mentioned your desire to avoid fights to any of the other Level 5s?"

"No, just you."

"Why?"

"Because I know I can push you around."

And suddenly Mizuno was in the hospital. He didn't remember moving here, but that didn't really surprise him. One day, Takeru. One day. You can't be everywhere, no matter how hard you try to pretend like you can.


	5. Chapter 4

As much fun as it had been to have another teleporter around at first, Kuroko was really getting tired of Taro. His insistence that "Perfect Dodge" wasn't teleportation was annoying, as was his using it to explain why he couldn't make some pretty simple and short jumps. She figured he was probably just a lucky Level 3 who could teleport himself, but not good enough to want to risk telefragging himself. He flat-out refused to accept that he could go around walls or up floors or anything of the like. It was annoying. Plainly and simply annoying.

Still, Ruiko and Kazari had warmed up to him fairly quickly, and they invited him shopping with them with some frequency. Bleargh, soon they were going to be going on dates or something. Disgusting. All three of them, though? That would be interesting. She'd like to see that… She was so lost in thought that she bumped straight into someone. "Sorry-" It was Taro.

He smiled. "No problem!" Oh god, he was about to start talking about something. A huge fan of the long-winded one-sided conversation, that one. Kuroko's phone rang. Thank god.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Mikoto. I'm at the Judgement Office right now-"

"Why are you at the Judgement Office?" Taro suddenly piqued up at the mention. Huh.

"Look, it's about Taro. I looked him up, and-"

"You hacked into my computer just to look him up!?" Taro froze in place. There was a look of complete, abject terror on his face.

"He's not real."

"What?"

"Nobody by the name Taro Tanaka is registered in Academy City. And that 'Perfect Dodge' of his? Not a registered ability, anywhere. Not by name, not by description."

Kuroko was speechless. She stared straight at Taro. He stared straight back at her.

"Who are you?"

"I'm nobody important! Just, you know, Taro. You know!" He looked like he was about to cry.

"Oh god." Mikoto's voice was almost pure horror. "He's right there, isn't he. Oh, god. Look, I'm trying to get a match on this picture I had a friend draw of-"

Taro's face snapped to complete calm in less time than she thought possible. And suddenly, he was gone.

The line went dead. Mikoto had hung up.

Mikoto looked at the broken phone on the floor. She hadn't dropped it, she was certain.

"Why did you have to do that." Taro was right next to her. How did he get there so fast? It was across the city, not even Kuroko could travel that far that quickly. He was completely stone-faced. She had certainly never seen him look so serious.

"Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"I think it does." She eyed him carefully. There was a light beep from one of the machines. "And that'll be the picture lookup!"

"The what?"

She caught a quick glimpse of the screen, before it suddenly caved in on itself, but it had been enough.

"I did a picture lookup of you."

"That's not possible. I avoid pictures."

"Which is why I had a friend of mine who's a pretty good artist do a sketch. It took the machine a lot longer to run than it would for a real picture, but it still got there in the end. So tell me, why are you pretending to be a Level 3, Mr. Takeru Yamamoto?"

He grimaced. "I'd rather not answer that."

"You know, someone told me you were a dangerous psychopath. Should I believe them?"

"Was it a shapeshifting moron by chance?"

"Yes."

"To him, that is exactly what I am."

"And to me?"

"I had been hoping a friend."

Not exactly what she had expected there. "Well, friends shouldn't keep too many secrets. Why lie about who you were? I didn't know you by name anyway."

"I'm trying to stay inconspicuous."

"Why?"

He stood for a few seconds and drew a deep breath. "They want to recruit me into something called a Level 6 Shift experiment. I'd really rather not."

Mikoto went cold. No. Not possible. They couldn't bring it back. Not now, years after the fact. The sisters were scattered. Only three or four lived in Academy City still. Accelerator wouldn't allow it either. No, it had to be dead.

"What kind of experiment is this?" She heard herself ask.

"According to some calculations or other, I can reach Level 6 if I kill the other 10 Level Fives." He looked down at his feet as he spoke.

How strong was this guy? Even Accelerator would have had to kill her 128 times to achieve Level 6. "Why… why are you telling me this?"

"I gather you have previous reasons to oppose such experiments."

That was certainly one way to put it. "So why hang out with Kuroko and me all this time? Why bother?"

"I said I wanted to be friends. Goo-brain's already a lost cause, but I figure if I befriend the other Level 5s I can avoid trouble, and hopefully get away from whatever plans people have in place for me."

"How can I trust you?"

"I suppose you just have to!" He smiled again, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. And he was gone.

He hadn't moved, or left. He simply vanished. Even Kuroko made a bit of a sound when she teleported, and shimmered a bit. He was just… gone.

Mikoto went home for the night.


	6. Chapter 5

Accelerator had spent some time tracking him down, but here he was, clear as day. Takeru Yamamoto, sitting in a restaurant in full view of the street and eating alone. That was… a strange choice. Accelerator had frequently eaten alone, but even he had never quite stopped to going out to eat by himself. It seemed unusually pathetic for this supposed new Number 1. Accelerator smiled to himself. He supposed the man wanted company.

He walked into the restaurant and sat down across the table. "Hello."

Takeru didn't seem surprised at all. "Hi. May I ask what this is about?"

"You know, that letter of yours really pissed me off."

Takeru tilted his head. "Really? I had hoped it wouldn't."

"You clearly don't know me very well."

"That was the point of the letter."

"I think we should step outside for a moment. You know, to have a chat."

Takeru was clearly sweating a little. "I think I'd rather not."

"No, I would really like to."

"I'll pass." And he vanished. Pfft, what was this, a Level 5 teleporter? Oh, he was so scared. What kind of stupid Academy City board put him at the top? In spite of it, he almost felt better. Just some worthless kid, too scared to fight him. It was then that he realized that he had been worried. Well, no reason to now.

Two women walked down the street. They were identical in every way, down to the clothes they wore. People would occasionally stop and stare at them as they passed, but they didn't mind. They were in their own little world, and it was just the two of them.

All of a sudden, an intruder popped into their little world. "Hello!"

They stared. They looked around quickly, in opposite directions. "Who are you?" It didn't matter which of them had said it.

"My name is Taro Tanaka, and I was wondering if you'd like to-"

They held up a hand. "No, we know you. You're that brat with the vanishing act."

He frowned. "Really? I thought only a few people would recognize me still…"

"We know you. We saw you talk to Accelerator."

He perked up. "So, you don't know who I am?"

They shook their heads. "We do. We heard him speak as well."

He looked like he was in shock. "You saw me… and I didn't see you? How distracted was I…"

"Very, we would think. Now, please get out of our way."

"Look, I'd just like to talk to you."

"And we wouldn't. Leave."

"Just introductions! My name is Takeru Yamamoto, Number 1 ranked Level 5 in Academy City."

One sighed, one rolled her eyes.

"Fine. We are Ki. 8th and 9th ranked."

"Which is which?"

"It does not matter. Now get out of our way."

They grasped each other's hand, and slowly pulled apart. A ball of fire began to form between them, getting larger as they pulled apart.

"That's pretty neat. What is that, some kind of gestalt deal? I assume your powers amplify each other's until you get something truly worthy of Level 5…"

"Fire is life. As our lives are bound, our fire is all the greater."

"Well, I've seen enough. Interesting, but not something you can apply very creatively. I just want to tell you that I hope I never have to fight you."

And he was gone. They looked at the spot where he had been for a moment, and walked off in unison.

Takeru walked down the street alone, mentally checking names off in his head. Dark Matter would probably help him if it came to that, Railgun also. Protean was a lost cause from the get-go. Meltdowner he could at least avoid being opposite of. The Pyro twins clearly disliked him, but they would be neutral in anything, so it didn't matter too much. He had no clue who number 10 was. Number 11 was an odd case. He just had to make sure that he never played the bad guy, and Gunha would always fight for him. The only two he had to worry about now were Mental Out and Accelerator. He couldn't even get near Mental Out. She was just too dangerous. Accelerator, though.

Accelerator.

Maybe he should have agreed to fight him then. If he couldn't beat him, at least he could scare him off.

Takeru smiled to himself. Things were taking shape rather well.


	7. Chapter 6

The man who worked for Academy City was frustrated, to say the least. Based on what he was hearing, his men were the only people in the entire city who hadn't run into the elusive new Number 1 in the last few weeks. It was, frankly, embarrassing. Nobody involved had seen the boy since he had made the offer. He couldn't believe that little Mr. Perfect had turned it down. The fact that he went into hiding afterwards was just bizarre. Or maybe he wasn't in hiding. Maybe he was just toying with them. It seemed possible.

They had made their building as resistant to him as they could, but it was still always possible for him to sneak in. As long as he was hiding, they were safe. The man doubted they would last long if he genuinely turned against them.

Still, to turn down the chance to reach Level 6. Something was wrong with that Takeru boy. Who would walk away from that kind of chance? It couldn't be he had compunction about killing; the man had heard stories. Pretty scary ones, too.

So now it was time to decide. Should he retract the offer? Clearly there was no interest. But if he did, Takeru would have to be taken out. And that had to be done in some very specific ways, or else they were all doomed. He closed his eyes, held his breath, and sent out the order. Takeru Yamamoto was to be killed.

It was time for a rematch. Takeru had made sure it would happen. He had timed the encounter just right, too. Nobody else was around. Just him and Accelerator.

Accelerator was grinning at him like a crazy person. "Not gonna just run away this time, are you?"

Takeru smiled back. "Not the plan!"

Accelerator picked up a rock from the ground, flicked a switch on the collar around his neck, and flicked it towards Takeru. It crossed the distance between them in less than a hundredth of a second. Takeru suddenly reappeared two feet to the left. "Too slow." He held out his hand to show that he had caught the pebble. "My turn!"

Takeru pulled a Swiss Army Knife from his pocket. He opened it with some effort, and looked Accelerator in the eyes. "If I can land one hit, the fight is over."

Accelerator rolled his eyes. "Oooh, a teleporter with a knife. How scary. You are aware, I assume, that teleportation is based on vectors?"

Takeru smiled again. "Good thing I don't teleport."

Accelerator felt a sting on his arm. And something wet. He looked down with a sense of creeping dread. Blood. He had been cut. Takeru was still standing in his spot. The knife was now bloody.

"Fight over. I win."

What… what had just happened? This was wrong. Something was wrong. Accelerator backed up. "What are you?" In the corner of his eye, he saw a shape sneaking towards them.

Takeru smiled his stupid smile. "I'm the new Number 1."

Accelerator watched as the shape continued to sneak towards them. He couldn't make out what it was, especially not while keeping his eyes locked dead on Takeru. The shape crept close, and pulled itself up into the shape of a man.

Mizuno Kuroyama silently drew his gun, aimed at the back of Takeru's head from point-blank range, and fired.

"Dodge this."

Accelerator stared at the corpse on the ground. "I have to admit, that was scary."

Takeru nudged it with his foot. "He really was an idiot."


	8. Chapter 7

Takeru sensed something behind him. He felt a breath. They were very close. He would give them a few more seconds, just to see.

"Dodge this."

Ah, it was goo-brain again. With a gun, of course. Idiot. The gun fired. Takeru turned around and took a step back. The bullet had left the barrel and had almost crossed the distance between it and his head. It hung in the air, frozen in place. Mizuno's face was frozen in a vengeful smile. Idiot.

Takeru grasped the bullet with his thumb and finger and began to pull it back towards the gun. It was stuck in place. He had never tried this with something that had so much momentum. This was going to take some effort. He kept pulling, occasionally switching sides to push instead when his fingers were tired.

Eventually, after what felt like 20 minutes, the bullet gave slightly. He snatched it out of the air, flipped it around, and aimed it towards Mizuno. He stuck it back in the air and pushed as hard as he could. It stayed stuck in place. Excellent. He was really getting the hang of this stuff. He pushed as hard as he could for close to an hour. He stood back in place, and let the world continue around him. He heard a little squeak from behind him, then a thud. He turned around. Mizuno had been shot in the head. It had worked. He was very proud of himself.

"I have to admit, that was scary." Accelerator was staring with what basically passed for fear on his face.

"He really was an idiot." Takeru nudged the corpse with his foot. Well, that had killed two birds with one stone. Goo-brain out of the picture, Accelerator too scared of him to try fighting (he hoped). Good. In any case, he now knew that Accelerator's reflection was time-dependent. Good information to have.

Takeru smiled and walked away. The day was going well. And then his legs stuck. That was… odd.

He looked down. He had stepped into something like wet cement, except stickier. That was strange. Suddenly there was a piercing sound, all around him. He couldn't concentrate. He couldn't stop anything around him. Oh god, the sound was like knives inside his skull. The man with the offer was walking towards him. "That sound cancels out Abilities. No effect on level zeroes, though." He smiled. "We're going on a field trip."

Takeru was in the back seat of a car. The cement around his feet had dried, and they had carved him out of it, with his feet locked together. He had a bad feeling about where this was going. He had seen a few gangster movies. The car stereo was blaring the sound continuously. The pain was ridiculous.

The arrived at a pier. Called it. Two men dragged him out of the car, and dumped him in the water. The cement was so heavy. He dropped like a rock. After about 10 feet, he couldn't hear the sound anymore. He could think again.

So, what now? Stopping time wouldn't help him much now- he would just keep sinking. He had taken a breath before he fell, but it was running out fast. And then he had a thought.

Well, it couldn't hurt to try.

He froze himself. Or rather, he sped up everything else. The sky above the water flashed like a strobe light. How far was he going? He pulled his legs against the cement. The flashing above sped up more. The cement was covered in algae. He could see it growing so quickly. It was growing on him, too. He kept straining his legs. He sank. The flashing was so fast it was now just a greyish haze above him. He pulled against the cement, and suddenly they separated. The cement almost disintegrated, pretty much immediately.

The sky paused, with the sun roughly overhead. He swam upwards. Hitting the surface, he took a few big, gulping breaths. He dragged himself out of the water and onto the dock.


	9. Finale

He was completely covered in algae. He probably looked like a swamp monster. He yanked at it until he had at least removed what had grown on his skin. His hair would need something more, and his clothes were totaled. He searched through his pockets. His IDs were all ruined, and his knife still opened but was a filthy mess. He walked towards the city. He would need new clothes. He was tired.

He reached the city. It did not look good. Everything in ruins. He stopped time and ran through the streets trying to find anyone. Finally, he ran across a familiar-looking woman, crouching over a small fire she had apparently started with no fuel on the sidewalk.

"Hello Ki. Where is your sister?"

The woman looked at him for a moment, then began to violently shake her head. "Not Ki anymore. No more sister. Strength is gone."

He almost had to laugh. "What are you now, Level 3?"

She kneeled down on the ground and began to cry. Disgusting. He froze her and shoved her head into the fire. He wondered what that would do. He walked away. All of his planning, all of his maneuvering, it had all been worthless. He restarted the world as he walked. The screaming began immediately. What kind of pyrokinetic wasn't even fireproof? What a joke. All of it had been worthless.

Shit, he should have asked her how many people were left. The city looked pretty much abandoned. He thought for a few minutes. It couldn't have been more than 10 years. What had happened?

Eh, he didn't really care.

Thinking about it, this might be a net positive. He was almost certainly the strongest now. Probably the strongest ever.

It was time to go exploring. He smiled widely to himself, began cleaning off his knife, and froze everything. He walked off alone. The world was his.


End file.
